Tasting Notes :
A sleeper of the vintage, Ducru’s second wine, the 2003 Croix du Beaucaillou is a complex, fully mature effort displaying notes of cedarwood, incense, spice and red and black currants. With medium body as well as a spicy, round finish, it can be enjoyed over the next 5-6 years. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
Always a favorite among consumers, Xavier Borie’s is a fifth-growth Pauillac that consistently performs at a much higher level. The 2012 Grand-Puy-Lacoste has the classic, tell-tale crème de cassis as well as some bluer fruits and floral notes. Medium-bodied, its ripe tannin, beautiful fruit and low acidity give it an up-front appeal. There’s no harm in drinking it now or cellaring it for another 12-15+ years. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
The 2013 Léoville-Barton has a more backward bouquet compared to the Langoa-Barton 2013, but there is more perfume here with blackberry, a touch of sea spray and cold limestone. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe tannin, a crisp line of acidity with finesse and elegance on the finish, which is one of the best you'll find in Saint Julien. This finishes with a flourish after a conservative opening and it should yield a decade of pleasure, maybe more. This is a solid showing in a tough vintage. (Neal Martin)

Tasting Notes :
An intriguing blend of 48% Merlot, 48% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot, this inky purple-colored wine is ripe, progressively styled, big, rich, thick and juicy. In other words, the 2012 Lascombes is loaded. No doubt the high percentage of Merlot in the final blend gives this wine a fleshiness and succulence that is unusual in the Médoc. Rich, pure and full, it should hit its prime in another 4-5 years and last at least two or three decades. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Lascombes features beautiful candied violets, Black Forest cake, cassis and menthol with hints of underbrush, cloves, pencil lead and tar. Medium-bodied with good intensity and firm, grainy tannins, it finishes long and perfumed. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Lascombes has a beautiful nose of black forest cake, violets, cassis and tilled soil with wafts of garrigue and potpourri. Medium-bodied, very fine and elegant with great intensity of restrained, earthy flavors, it has a long, savory finish. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
The 2005 La Dame de Montrose is a gorgeous second wine. Dark ruby/purple, with sweet black cherry and blackcurrant fruit, soft tannins, and a round, generous, medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, it is an excellent, soft wine to drink over the next 15 or so years. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
The 2011 La Chapelle de La Mission reveals abundant quantities of round, generous, black cherry and black currant fruit intermixed with hints of gravel and earth, sweet tannin, decent but unobtrusive acidity, and a nicely textured, lush mouthfeel. It is perfect for drinking now and over the next 10-15 years.

Jean-Philippe Delmas continues to quietly and authoritatively turn out one great wine after another at La Mission-Haut-Brion and Haut-Brion. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Giscours opens with expressive cassis, blackberry and red currants on the nose with touches of cedar chest, roses and pencil lead. Medium to full-bodied with a good core of muscular fruit and firm, grainy tannins, it finishes long. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
The saturated ruby/purple-hued 2011 Haut-Bailly exhibits a glorious, subtle, noble set of aromatics consisting of red and black currants, sweet cherries, graphite, truffles and a faint hint of wood spice. The wine hits the palate with the profound elegance and purity that have become so much a characteristic under Wilmers and Sanders. Still youthful, with good acidity and freshness, this brilliant, medium-bodied 2011 needs another 4-5 years of bottle age, and should evolve effortlessly for 20-25 years.

Ever since the acquisition of Haut-Bailly by American banker Robert Wilmers, he and his winemaker Veronique Sanders have dramatically led this estate to the top of the qualitative pyramid. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
The 2015 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is medium garnet-purple colored with a nose of red and black currants, cedar chest and roses with a touch of dusty earth. The medium-bodied mouth is chewy, with lively fruit and good balance. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
The deep garnet colored 2014 Rauzan-Ségla reveals an open-knit, expressive nose of potpourri, unsmoked cigars, spice box and red loam with a core of plum preserves, blackcurrant jelly and bay leaves plus a touch of garrigue. Medium to full-bodied with compelling earthy layers and a real savoriness in the mouth, it has firm, chunky tannins and bold freshness, finishing on a lingering mineral note.

The blend this year is 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, harvested between September 22nd and October 16th, at an average yield of 37 hectoliters per hectare. It was aged for 18 months in French oak, 60% new. The alcohol is 13.5%, and the pH is 3.59. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
The 2013 Léoville-Poyferre has a lovely nose with simple blackcurrant and wild strawberry fruit, maintaining Didier Cuvelier's more opulent style while retaining delineation and focus. The palate is medium-bodied with gently grippy tannin, good acidity and structure, not complex but with a very impressive blackberry and cassis finish that lingers in the mouth. Chapeau Monsieur Cuvelier - one of the best Saint Juliens this vintage. (Neal Martin)

Tasting Notes :
The beautiful second wine, the 2012 La Chapelle de La Mission Haut Brion, has a dense ruby/purple color, sweet raspberry and blackcurrant fruit, subtle earth and spice, supple tannins and an opulent fleshy mouthfeel. It is a terrific second wine and outstanding in its own right. Drink it over the next 12-15 years. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
There is a lot of Merlot in Petit Village offerings, a property that enjoys an outstanding exposition of the plateau of Pomerol near the town of Libourne. The deep ruby/purple-hued 2011 exhibits lots of rich, concentrated fruit, medium to full body, and a supple, round style. It should drink nicely for a decade. If you like ripe berries, caramel, toffee and vanillin, you will like this. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
The 2010 Nenin is a blend of 82% Merlot and 18% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, it charges out of the gate with bold Black Forest cake, plum preserves and licorice scents followed by Chinese five spice and potpourri nuances with a waft of fallen leaves. Full-bodied, the palate has great richness and depth with firm, velvety tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long and savory. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
Deep garnet in color, the 2010 Lagrange gives up notes of baked blackcurrants, stewed plums and fried herbs with nuances of crushed rocks and balsamic plus a touch of fungi. Full-bodied, the palate has a firm line of grainy tannins and fantastic freshness helping to define the black fruit and earthy flavors, finishing a little lifted. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
This property has been making excellent wines under the administration of Caroline Frey, and 2012 continues their recent success. With a deep ruby/purple color, notes of new saddle leather, graphite, blackcurrants and black cherries, a supple texture, medium to full body and beautiful purity, this is an outstanding 2012 to drink over the next 20 years. In general, the blend tends to be approximately 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance 25% Merlot followed by 15% Petit Verdot. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2013 Pontet-Canet is evolving into tobacco, new leather and dried mulberries scents with a core of kirsch, baked plums and cigar box plus a waft of Indian spices. Medium-bodied, elegantly styled and wonderfully refreshing in the mouth, it has a solid line of grainy tannins and loads of mineral sparks on the finish. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
The 2014 Leoville Barton is one of the must-buys of the vintage. Now in bottle, it has a very pure bouquet that gains intensity in the glass, laden with blackberry and raspberry coulis scents, cold wet stone, a wonderful mineralité that becomes more conspicuous with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with tensile tannin, a fine line of acidity that lends this precision and nervosité. There is class and sophistication in situ, not a powerful Léoville Barton, but beautifully poised. This is just a brilliant forerunner to the 2015 and it should represent great value. (Neal Martin)